AnaLog Services, Inc. often acquires electronics components in the surplus market. We will not divulge all our secrets, but here are a few:

eBay Online Auctions

Sort till you drop!

These mil. spec. components were acquired on eBay for less than one cent on the retail dollar.

You can find all manner of electronic components and test equipment on eBay. Sellers often do not really know what they are selling when it comes to exotic items, and there are fantastic deals to be had under such circumstances. However, there are unscrupulous sellers, so the old caveat emptor caution applies to online auctions and sellers as much or more as it applies elsewhere.

Dayton, Ohio

Dayton, Ohio is the home of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the home of the old Joint Army-Navy (JAN) electronics acquisition facility (it has a fancy new name and acronym now). As a result, Dayton is the place to go for surplus mil. spec. electronics.Mendelson's (MECI), in downtown Dayton, is undoubtedly the largest electronics surplus dealer in the world. They have 150,000 square feet (over three football fields) of showroom. One floor is dedicated to small volume items not listed in their catalog. Plan on spending an entire day at Mendelson's if you can; do not go anytime close to the Dayton Hamvention. You must see it to truly believe it! Sadly, the present owners are planning on downsizing the operation, so this incredible resource may not last for long.Midwest Surplus Electronics, Inc. is located in Fairborn, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton close to Wright-Patterson AFB. We have purchased many items from them over the years, including exotics like mil. spec. crystal can latching relays and fancy Grayhill rotary switches. Midwest is smaller than MECI (everything is smaller than MECI), but well organized and fun to visit.The Dayton Hamvention is the largest hamfest in the world. Virtually anything you can imagine is available from the flea market. There is increasing emphasis on computer items, but test equipment and components are still available in abundance. The best deals are found early the first day. Some years, AnaLog has a booth in the flea market area; it makes an excellent base of operations.

More Surplus Outlets

Unfortunately surplus electronics stores are closing or changing the thrust of their business left and right. Nashville (Javanco) and Atlanta both had large surplus electronics outlets, but both were converted to discount computer stores. Some surplus operations we like: